CHINA MAIL
FRIDAY SUPPLEMENT, JANUARY 13, 1939
RITCHETT'S face, thin
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and
colourless in ordinary times, was grey and wet with perspira- tion, while his eyes stared at some horrific vision, as he went on:
"It was that cat-that damna- ble white cat! I can see it now, I have seen it every minute since, Now here now there, its red eyes gleaming vindictively.
"All my life I have hated cats, because I believe them to be pos- sessed of a devil—a sly, vindictive, tigerish devil! I could never un- derstand why my master, Mr. Cranborne, kept this animal. His love for it was repulsive to me; it followed him about like a dog during the day; slept on his bed at night. He used to say it was the most wonderful specimen he had ever possessed.
"Many a time I was tempted to destroy it when he was away; in- deed, I contrived many methods whereby I could get rid of it and yet convey to him the impression that it was a pure accident. But always that white cat eluded me. It seemed to know what was pas- sing in my mind. It suspected me. While the master was in the house it walked about fearlessly stood by his side in the middle of the study while he dictated a let- ter or gave me instructions. would stand there, hoisting its back and rubbing its head against his leg. It seemed to be saying: 'I'm all right so long as you are here, but I don't trust that man. When you are gone he will find a means of getting rid of me!"
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"Before he left the house the master would pick up that wretch- ed cat and fondle it as though it were a child of his own. And he would say to me: "You will look after Ling Soo while I am away, won't you, Critchett?" would give him the
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assurance, but as soon as he was gone the cat would slip away for the rest of the day, returning only when it knew that the master was back in the house.
"A white cat! Dead white, with red, restless eyes! Sometimes in the middle of the night I would awaken and see those eyes looking at me through the darkness.
"Mr. Cranborne thought a great deal of me. He was old and wealthy, but exceedingly childish in the conduct of his affairs. He used to say that he had suffered ao much from the defections of friends and relatives that he felt he couldn't trust anyone-save me. Not once, during the whole of the time I was with him, did I pro- test against the irksomeness of the duties he imposed on me. I, too, had suffered through the faults of others and found great relief in applying myself assidu- ously to work. It wasn't unusual for me to be called to Mr. Cran- borne's bedroom at seven in the morning and begin to take down notes and letters, telegrams to his brokers, instructions to his ten- ants, and work on up to eight or nine o'clock at night with only short intervals for meals. And even after I had retired for the - might I was always ready to go to his room at the ringing of the bell, which had been specially fitted up between his room and mine.
"I think he knew of my dis- like of Ling Soo, for when I went to his bedroom during the night to : take down some message that hád occurred to him he would call the cat from the foot of the bed and
THE WHITE CAT
hold it in his arms
while he talked. Once he said, half- jocularly; 'I think you are afraid of cats, Critchett; some woman or other must have disappointed you.' I made no reply.
"He trusted me implicitly, and I must say that he paid me ex- .ceedingly well for my services and my loyalty. He was exceedingly shrewd in his study of the mar- ket, and if I had acted on all the advice he gave me about the in- vesting of my savings I might have been a very rich man. But my cousin Rupert, who had been connected with a firm of outside brokers, began to take an inter- est in my affairs and urged upon me that I was a fool to be con- tent with four or five per cent. when, by taking a little risk, it was possible to make as much as ten or fifteen. I realise now that my cousin Rupert was the last person in the world with whom I should have associated.
"Although he was getting on in years, Mr. Cranborne was un- usually active and was less afraid of undertaking an ocean voyage
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than some men of his age would have been of crossing a street. Last winter he conceived the idea of taking
South a holiday in America Brazil. He was un- acquainted with anyone there, but he had got it into his mind that it was a country of promise and that if he travelled through it as an ordinary visitor he would be able to sum up the potentialities. For some time I tried to dissuade him, but he resented the inference that he was growing old and ought to be content with the fortune he had made. After all, he had mo children, nor anyone dependent on him. What he was going to do with his money in the end I couldn't imagine, although there was in my mind a fugitive fear that he would act on an impulse and leave the whole of it to some institution for the welfare of cats.
"He stood in the middle of the study as he talked to me about the projected trip to Brazil. The cat --that damnable white cat--stood by his side, rubbing its arched back against his leg. He said that he had told his bankers that he might be undertaking the trip, and he added, as he stoked his short, grey beard: 'I told them also that you will look after every- thing here while I am away. You have the run of the .place, Crit- chett, and what is more, I am giving you power of attorney so that you may deal expeditiously with any matter that may crop up. If you get a cable from me, you will know how to act. That shows how much I trust you, Critchett."
"I thanked him for this un- doubted tribute to my sagacity, but I was loath to accept so much responsibility, and so informed him. 'I can trust you, Critchett,' he said.
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"'You are about the only man in the world I can trust. I shall leave all my affairs in your hands; but what is more important to me, I shall leave in your keeping my faithful Ling Soo. You will take great care of him, Critchett? If anything should happen to the old darling, I would never forgive myself for leaving him. I know that at times you must think me foolish because of the love I bes-` tow on Ling Soo, but if I told, you that the dear old chap has become part of my life, part of my very soul, I shouldn't be exaggerating.' "It was left to me to arrange for the procuring of a passport. He hated anything in the nature of red tape, so I accompanied him to the photographers, obtained the necessary photographs, one of which had to be applied to the passport, and I saw him off from Liverpool. The idea was that he should travel first to Lisbon, then across the Atlantic to tevideo.
Mon-
"When I returned to Green Hollow; the estate that he had owned for nearly fifteen years, 1
By Andrew Soutar
wasn't surprised to find that the white cat had disappeared. The servants couldn't help me when I questioned them about it. At the end of a month I acted on
my power of attorney and sold out a quantity of shares in accordance with a cablegram received from South America. Further mes- sages urged me to get rid of this farm and that farm. I spoke to the bank manager about this, and conveyed to him my impression that old Mr. Cranbourne ought not to have gone alone to the other side of the world.
He ap- peared to be contemplating a huge gamble, but gave no hint of its nature. As I said to the bank manager, it was no concern of mine; I had my duty to perform. Twice, at the instigation of the bank manager, in his presence, I cabled to Mr. Cranbourne, asking: 'Do you think it discreet to make this sale? The replies were not only abrupt, but rude. In effect, he told me to mimi. my business.
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"Three months after his depar- ture from England I disposed of Green Hollow for twenty thousand pounds. He cabled his congratula- tions on the sale. The new owner wished to take possession` immediately, so, after dismissing the household staff, I took up re- sidence in the old cottage on the other side of the part, wherein Mr. Granborne and I used to do a great deal of our work. We used it as a sort of study. He used to say that when he couldn't think in the big house it was because of the influence of the servants. That cottage was private to him and me:
"Nine months after M. Cran- borne's departure from England, and after I had carried out all his instructions about selling this
and that, I was sitting alone in the cottage study, when, to my surprise, 'Mr. Mattison, the bank manager, called to see me. I was surprised, because the hour was late, and I didn't remember having seen Mattison in the estate before.
"I had ceased work for the day and was lying back in an arm- chair in a corner when he knocked at the door. The only illuminant was a standard oil lamp with an orange shade. The light cast a flush over his face as I admitted him, and when he passed out of the lamp's radiance I marked the extreme pallor of his coun- tenance. He was trembling; his agitation was painful to observe. "'You've heard the news, Mr. Crichett?' he said. 'It is in to- night's evening newpaper. Mr. Cranborne is dead-died suddenly in Brazil. The news was cabled to one of the directors of the New Oil Company, of which Mr. Cran- borne was chairman.'
me.
"I told him that it was news to I waved him to a chair and sat down and wiped his face with a handkerchief.
'I've had the most amazing presentiments lately, Mr. Cri- chett," he said. He stopped and looked about the room. 'Where is Mr. Cranborne's white cat?' he asked, and there was something like terror in his eyes: at least, I thought so. He might have ex- pected it to drop from the ceiling to his feet from the way he look- ed from wall to wall. I told him that I hadn't seen the thing since the day Mr. Cranborne left for South America. "I have,' he said, and he spoke huskily. "I have seen it again and again. You know that he used to bring it to the bank with him, and one night I stayed behind to look through. the books. The bank doors were locked and I was the only person in the building and suddenly I be- came conscious of a presence in the room.
When I had the courage to look up from the book I saw that white cat staring at me with its red eyes from the door-mat. I walked around the counter, intending to pick it up; but, believe me ar mot, by the time I got to the docr the cat was gone.'
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"Next to yourself, Mr. Crichett I was Mr. Cranborne's closest con- (Continued on Page 7)
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